question on custom calls

[gooseberry]

why does a custom box call sound better than a mass produced call? i'm new and learning and would just like to understand.
thanks,
bruce

[Bryan78]

Probably because it is not mass produced.  You take a custom call builder and he/she is going to put their heart and soul into it where Primos and others build strictly for profits (not saying that they are bad for doing so) but custom people handle each piece themselves and take extra time in building it.

I bought a custom call built by Hoosier Hunter (who is a member of this board) and it sounds better and was built better then any other pot calls that I have.  I also have a Primos call and a Cody call that sound great as well, but my Hoosier Hunter call sounds a little better (with a Primos peg).

I am going to give custom builders a better look from now on. 

[Everyday Hunter]

A hand-built call will almost always sound better. The maker will hand-tune every call, and if a call doesn't perform it will go into the scrap box. Mass produced calls can't possibly have the attention to quality control that a hand-made call gets.

Remember that in consumer manufacturing, there are several steps to market, and each step produces a profit from manufacturer to packaging to wholesaler to retailer. But in packaging, wholesale, distribution and retail, the call itself gets no attention at all. So the original cost of a mass-produced call is pretty low at the beginning of the steps, but what the market will bear at the end, the retailer, making a profit for everyone between.

Since a custom call maker is in charge of everything from material selection through every manufacturing step, he has a lot more time into each call and more control throughout the manufacturing process. There isn't much cost in the materials of a call, but a lot in the time invested. So, a custom call will sound better, cost more, and live up to the reputation of its maker.

Steve

[WillowRidgeCalls]

To sum it up easally, it the time spent on each call. If a production co. spent a quarter of the time on a call as a custom builder does on a call you couldn't afford to buy it. It amazes me that they sound as good as they do, as fast as they are produced because there is very little hand work done to them. Some of the calls are not produced in this country so with out have live birds to copy, they can only build the call to sound like the recording they have to listen to.